Ocean clean-up and debris recovery
Generating renewable electricity whilst intercepting floating plastic waste and other marine debris.
Integrated environmental function
Renewable energy with debris recovery.
Plastic pollution has become one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world's oceans.
While Pliosaur Energy's primary purpose is to generate renewable electricity from tidal streams and ocean waves, the platform has also been designed to provide an opportunity to recover floating plastic waste and other marine debris during normal operations.
Although the quantity recovered will depend on local environmental conditions, the concept demonstrates how renewable-energy infrastructure could contribute both to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and improving the health of marine environments.
Collection process
Intercepting debris before the turbine.
Wave energy is captured by overtopping water flowing into an elevated reservoir before passing through the turbine.
First, the water first passes through a debris collection screen positioned across the overtopping channel.
Floating plastics, discarded fishing gear, timber and other marine debris can therefore be intercepted before entering the reservoir and turbine.
Maintenance and recovery
Accessible collection and responsible disposal.
The screen is designed to remain accessible from the turbine's service walkway, for routine inspection and cleaning during scheduled maintenance visits.
Collected waste can then be transferred ashore for disposal or recycling through recognised waste management facilities.
For projects owned and operated by Pliosaur Energy, recovered plastic and inorganic debris will be removed from the marine environment wherever practical.
Where the technology is licensed or operated by third parties, equivalent debris-management requirements would form part of the commercial operating agreement.
Established precedents
Floating debris collection in practice.
Floating collection systems are already in use to intercept waste in rivers and tidal environments before it travels farther downstream or enters the open sea.
These systems demonstrate the practical value of positioning accessible collection equipment within naturally occurring water flows.
Pliosaur Energy applies a related principle by integrating debris interception into the operating pathway of its wave-energy system.
Photograph by A. Cooper Photography, London.
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